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A man with 62 penalty points is still driving on our roads

A man with 62 penalty points on his licence is among thousands of motorists still allowed to drive, despite them exceeding the limit to qualify for a ban, an investigation has found.

The speeding West Yorkshire man was one of 10,000 drivers legally on Britain's roads last month who had racked up more than 12 points, according to Freedom of Information requests by the BBC.

Typically drivers with 12 penalty points must attend court to face a six-month ban but magistrates can choose otherwise if the offender shows that losing their licence will cause "exceptional hardship".

Some 203 people were still driving despite accumulating more than 18 points, while Greater London was the worst offending area with 1,385 motorists qualifying for a ban, the BBC said.

David Nichols of road safety charity Brake told the broadcaster: "The penalty points system is supposed to be in place to protect the public from dangerous repeat offenders and it's appalling that these risky repeat offenders are allowed to keep driving."

It is not known why the West Yorkshire man was allowed to continue driving.

Common reasons for so many points to be amassed include a failure to inform the DVLA of an address change, followed by speeding offences.

The loss of a job is not enough to pass the "exceptional hardship" test but magistrates may decide not to ban an offender if it would cause bankruptcy or the default of a mortgage, legal experts say